In the midst of the dual events Oracle OpenWorld and JavaOne (overshadowed, of course, by the iPhone event) Oracle took a number of steps that show that they still care about making a go of Java on the desktop.

First, they released a "Developer Preview" of Java SE 7 for Mac, the final version of which is now scheduled for Q2 2012. This marks the first official release of Java for Mac OS X which isn't coming from Apple, but still incorporates code that Apple contributed.

Oracle also brought the new, Java-language-based JavaFX 2.0 out of beta, while simultaneously announcing their intention to open-source it under the OpenJDK project and integrate it into JDK 8. And they demoed JavaFX apps running on iOS and Android (see here for pics and more details), although they're not making any promises on that count. Cue the "I'm not dead yet" jokes, etc., etc. Still, I'm sure many developers out there are happy to see Oracle finally blowing some fresh wind into these sails.